


Skype Nights

by TheDameintheRaininMaine



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Gen, female bonding, references to multiple canon relationships, secret keeping, voice chat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-04
Updated: 2015-03-04
Packaged: 2018-03-16 07:30:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3479591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDameintheRaininMaine/pseuds/TheDameintheRaininMaine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Felicity recieves the email on an otherwise ordinary Thursday. </i>
</p><p>What starts as a simple email from a sort of friend, ends up with a few things that more than one person needed to hear.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Skype Nights

Felicity recieves the email on an otherwise ordinary Thursday. 

Not really any Thursday is truly ordinary for her anymore. Between her day work, her night work and the sudden return to life of former boss/partner/something Oliver Queen, pretty much any day for Felicity Smoak could qualify as prime time worthy. 

She's about to go to lunch when she spots the little red notification on her dashboard. She crosses her fingers that it's not anything involving people bleeding, and opens it. 

It's from an "West_I" at a cable company domain. Felicity thinks for a minute before realizing. She'd forgotten that she'd given both Barry and Iris her email before they had left Central City the last time.

It's just a couple lines. 

"I know this is probably weird, but I wondering if you could Skype me tonight? I know we haven't spoken since you were in town last time, but I could really use someone to talk to if you don't mind. Skype name is the same as this email". 

Felicity checks her calendar. She is, miraculously perhaps, free tonight. True, she and Iris weren't close or anything, and she had no idea what it is she wants to talk to her about. But the other woman had been nothing but gregarious and welcoming to her, so what harm could it do? Besides, she hadn't had anything even resembling a girls night in so long. 

She briefly considers calling and asking Barry if he knows what this could be about, but then notes that Iris didn't mention him at all, even though he's how they know each other. It makes her think that it might be best not to bring him up. 

After clicking "reply" and writing a quick note back to Iris confirming the time, Felicity slips her feet out on the end of her desk. Real life had been such a mess lately, she could use a chance to help someone else with a problem instead of dwelling on her own. 

***

Felicity has her PJs on, a glass of wine handy, and her phone turned to silent. 

She'll probably feel real silly if this turns out to be something answered in a few sentences. 

But the call comes through at the time they had planned. 

Iris is still in her work clothes, and she doesn't look particularly upset. 

"Hey"

"Hey"

There's a long pause, maybe not awkward, but uncertain. 

Iris breaks it. "So, how have you been?"

Felicity lets out a rough giggle. There's no good answer to that. So she goes for something standard. 

"Okay I guess? Lot of stress at work. I haven't gotten home this early in a while". 

Oh yeah, Iris doesn't know about the whole superhero night time gig. She'll have to be careful. 

There's another silence, one that Iris breaks again. 

"Sorry...this probably seems weird, but you were the only one I could think of to talk to."

"Is there something wrong?" This is odd. Iris seemed to have plenty of friends, she certainly didn't seem to lack a support system.

"Not...wrong per say" 

She sounds avoidant. Like even though she was the one who started this conversation, she still doesn't want to say. 

"Why did you want to talk to me, instead of Barry?" Might as well get to the point. 

Iris bites her lip. "It's...about him". 

Felicity laughs again. "Yeah, I kind of suspected."

"I don't really know how much time you guys spent together in Starling the first time, but you guys seemed pretty comfortable together, I thought maybe you would have some idea. When you two were together, did he...talk about me at all?"

There's so much in that comment that Felicity will have to bite her tongue on. She goes for diplomatic. 

"Well yeah. He told me you were his best friend and had been for years, that you were incredibly close. It shows, it really does. Friendships that close are pretty rare."

Iris is silent for a moment. 

"Iris? Did something happen, did he say something?" 

"At Christmas, he gave me a replica of my mother's wedding ring. I used to wear the real one as a kid, but I lost it in fifth grade and was super upset about it. It made me really happy, but Eddie kept going on about how it was a strange gift for a friend to give. He kept pestering me about whether Barry had...like, romantic feelings for me". 

Felicity holds in her laugh. That is probably a strange gift for a friend, but it is so very Barry. 

There's a notification of another incoming call. Laurel. She ignores it for now. 

Eddie. Eddie, the boyfriend. Of course he must have noticed something. 

She takes a breathe. Screw being diplomatic, she'll just say it. 

"So did Barry finally get the stones to admit it?" 

Iris covers her face is her hands. 

"Oh my god, did everyone know but me?"

Felicity is stung by an intense pang of empathy. She's never been in Iris's position, but she's had a little taste of the other side. 

"You said earlier 'when we were together'. Well, we never really were. He was cute and nice and we flirted. But we both decided not to pursue it. Because we were both hung up on other people."

Iris is muttering under her breathe, and all Felicity can make out is "God I'm such an idiot". 

"As for other people...I can only say that when I met Cisco and Caitlin last year when Barry was still in a coma, Caitlin called you Barry's 'something'."

Laurel's notification pops up again. Felicity grabs her phone to text her, _'im in a skype session can you call me back? plz don't be sos'._

She continues on, "So, what did you say to him?"

"I...kind of didn't say anything. I didn't know what to say". 

"So you never thought about it?"

"Never. We've been friends for so long, I actually thought he might see me as a sister". 

Felicity cringes. "You don't think of him as a brother though right?" 

"No? I mean, we were friends before my dad took him in. And it wasn't like having a new sibling". She snorts a little "Actually it was like having a sleepover every night. It would have been fun if he hadn't been such a mess about his mom. But we went through high school and college, years and years...shouldn't this be weird? Shouldn't it feel weird?"

Felicity can see her logic, but still "Does it? Feel weird?"

"It did at first! It was like I had every single interaction we'd ever had replaying in my head with this new bit of knowledge. You know Barry took me to the junior prom when my date bailed on me? I called him in college way more than my dad. And then I remembered that I was the only one who believed him about what happened the night his mom died..."

She trails off a minute before continuing. "And now he's all I can think about. At work, when I'm with Eddie..."

"Are you going to say something to him?"

"I tried, but he just started seeing someone else, and they seem happy, and he says that he doesn't feel that way anymore..."

Felicity can't restrain the laugh this time. "Barry actually said that?" 

"Yeah"

Laurel's returns her text, _"i kind of need eyes for this problem. Can you just give me eyes for a minute. im in the foundery"._

"Look, Iris, I don't know Barry even a quarter as well as you do. But I saw him both before and after the coma. His feelings for you...were not subtle. If you think he's been feeling this way this long? I doubt that suddenly changed. If he actually said that he doesn't love you anymore? I would say he's lying so hard that his pants definitely should have caught on fire". 

"But why would he say it then?"

She quick notes to Laurel _"gimme a minute. person im talking to IS NOT in on the costume thing, so watch where you point the screen"._

"Ugh, don't even ask me why men do anything. Best guess? Telling you altered his normal. He was used to loving you and you not knowing. He didn't tell you for some reason, maybe because never thought you'd reciprocate, so now he's trying to get to a place that's as much like where you used to be as possible. And apparently not listening to what you're trying to say"

"Men. Cowards."

"Sounds about right" It really does

"That's the other thing, Barry can't keep a secret to save his life, how did he keep quiet for so long?"

That is a pretty good question, but Barry is getting a crash course in keeping secrets this year. 

She looks at Iris's face, sees how distraught this discussion is making her. 

Secrets are no fun, and they're not good for anything. 

Laurel's notification pops up again. 

"Hey, I have a friend who wanted to ask me something. Is it okay if I patch her into group for a minute?"

"Yeah go ahead". 

She clicks Laurel into the group chat, and she appears in the screen. With Felicity's advice, she's in the part of the Foundary with Felicity's systems are set up, low enough not to see anything mounted on the walls. 

"Hey Laurel. Iris, this is Laurel Lance, she's a....friend. Laurel this is Iris West."

Laurel nods "Barry's Iris?"

Iris gets that desperate look on her face again. 

Felicity laughs "Oliver and I may have chatted about every one in Central City to...pretty much everyone here". 

"Okay, Felicity. I left the file I was gathering on Rameriez here last night. It is not where I left it, and I didn't want to go riffling through your stuff because I figured that if I messed anything up, you would probably murder me. Where'd you put it?"

"Good call, I would have. It's in the blue binder right?"

"Yup"

"Okay, show me my desk"

Laurel flips the screen shakily. 

"Second drawer on the right, lift out the accordion file, I put it underneath". 

She does, and pulls it out "Thank you so much, Ted asked to see part of it, and I thought I was going crazy". 

Iris pipes up again. 

"So, you two work together?"

"Sometimes...it's kind of a night work thing". 

"Laurel, you're a..."

"I'm a lawyer". 

"A lawyer, an IT girl, and a millionaire? Whatever this night work is, it sounds like something out of a comic book. How do you both know Oliver Queen anyway?"

Shit, Felicity thinks. Barry said that Iris was studying to be a reporter, and she was clearly going to be a pretty good one. 

Laurel covers much more easily. "Felicity used to work at Queen Consolidated. I'm just Oliver's ex."

Iris makes a high pitched whiny noise. Felicity knows that noise well. She just (usually) managed to keep it inside.

"Don't be jealous, he's hot, but I've already told Felicity that she wants none of that mess". 

Iris quirks her eyebrow, "how big a mess we talking?"

Excessive past trauma, rampant control issues, chronic hero complex, a good damn dose of that male cowardice they were talking about, Felicity thinks. 

"Cheated on me with my sister"

"Ouch". 

Laurel looks uncomfortable for a minute, and Felicity thinks for a minute that she should shoot Iris a PM telling her not to ask about Sara, but Laurel covers again well. 

"So what were you two talking about before I interrupted? Personal or can I join in?"

"Her life long best friend finally admitted to being in love with her, and started dating someone else just as soon she started to think she might be too, and now her feelings are tearing her apart inside and she doesn't know what to do". 

"He's seeing someone else?" Laurel has her eyebrow crooked "How's that make you feel?"

"Like someone's stabbing kittens in front of me". Iris replies, face deadly serious. 

Felicity objects "But you were fine with him possibily dating me?"

Laurel silently texts her, _'Barry's the Flash too right?"_

"Honestly, it never really felt...real with you? Barry's never really dated much okay? Someone occasionally in high school and college and never for very long. I was sad that I was with someone and he was alone."

' _Yeah, and she doesn't know'._ Felicity texts back 

"You wanted him to be happy, and you didn't know what seeing him with someone else would actually feel like?"

Damn, Laurel's pretty emotionally intuitive sometimes. 

"But what if Felicity's wrong and he really doesn't feel the same way anymore? If I tell him, I might ruin things for him, and for him and me. I mean, he kept this secret for so long, I don't know what else he might not be telling me." 

Felicity's blood starts to boil. Because Barry is hiding something else very big from Iris for reasons that range from the stupidly noble to just the stupid and it isn't anymore right for him that it was for Oliver. 

Laurel seems to agree. 

"So make him tell you. Get him alone and look him straight in the eye. Prepare, pay attention to how he's acting, look for holes, inconsistencies, and exploit them. Turn him upside down and shake him until all his secrets fall out". 

"Lawyer up on him is what she's saying". 

"From her technique it sounds like she means Cop Dad up on him". 

Laurel looks sympathetic. 

"Cop Dad, you too?"

Iris nods. 

"After you shake him" Felicity starts "You should probably call us back. I...kind of think you'll need to talk more". 

Iris steels her with a look. 

"You know something don't you?"

Dammit. Felicity takes in a deep breath. 

"None of the secrets I have are mine to tell. Remind Barry of that too". 

"It's just....thank you. I haven't been able to talk about any of this to anyone."

"Trust me, tonight I would have so rather dealt with your problems than mine". 

And with that, Iris clicks out. 

Felicity lets out the breath she didn't realize she was holding. 

Laurel's the one who finally says "that was close". 

"If she finds out about Oliver and all of us, it won't be because of me". 

"Don't you wish you could though?"

Felicity nods. "Oliver always insisted that keeping what he did a secret was to keep the people he loved safe. But they always seemed to end up in danger anyway, and even worse because they didn't know what the hell was going on! Look at Thea!"

"Yeah, Oliver's pretty lucky she didn't wail on him more when she found out". 

Felicity smiles. "Iris is right though, it is nice to get to talk about stuff sometimes."

"Yeah, Oliver's not really the touchy feely sort". 

Felicity affects a deep, growly, Arrow-esque voice. 

"I don't have feelings. They died on the island. Now I just like to shoot bad guys with arrows". 

That makes Laurel laugh. "That was pretty good. So do you think Barry will end up telling her?"

"No doubt. I think he wanted to tell her right away. Central City's not nearly as dangerous as Starling is. It's different for Barry. It's about trying to help people for him, not avenge anything or stop the city from being poisoned. Oliver would probably benefit from being around Barry more.

"It sounds like we all would". Laurel pauses, the haunted look on her face suggested that 'we all' included her, then she continues, "I could use an extra set of eyes on this file, if you could use some company". 

And Felicity smiles, and feels warmth in her chest. 

"I'll get the mint chocolate chip and the sparkling cider, and we can get our google on".


End file.
